In this book, the authors geometrically construct Riemann surfaces of infinite genus by pasting together plane domains and handles. To achieve a meaningful generalization of the classical theory of Riemann surfaces to the case of infinite genus, one must impose restrictions on the asymptotic behavior of the Riemann surface. In the construction carried out here, these restrictions are formulated in terms of the sizes and locations of the handles and in terms of the gluing maps. The approach used has two main attractions. The first is that much of the classical theory of Riemann surfaces, including the Torelli theorem, can be generalized to this class. The second is that solutions of Kadomcev-Petviashvilli equations can be expressed in terms of theta functions associated with Riemann surfaces of infinite genus constructed in the book. Both of these are developed here. The authors also present in detail a number of important examples of Riemann surfaces of infinite genus (hyperelliptic surfaces of infinite genus, heat surfaces and Fermi surfaces). The book is suitable for graduate students and research mathematicians interested in analysis and integrable systems.

This memoir develops the spectral theory of the Lax operators of nonlinear Schrödinger-like partial differential equations with periodic boundary conditions. Their special curves, i.e., the common spectrum with the periodic shifts, are generically Riemann surfaces of infinite genus. The points corresponding to infinite energy are added. The resulting spaces are no longer Riemann surfaces in the usual sense, but they are quite similar to compact Riemann surfaces.

This book is novel in its broad perspective on Riemann surfaces: the text systematically explores the connection with other fields of mathematics. The book can serve as an introduction to contemporary mathematics as a whole, as it develops background material from algebraic topology, differential geometry, the calculus of variations, elliptic PDE, and algebraic geometry. The book is unique among textbooks on Riemann surfaces in its inclusion of an introduction to Teichmüller theory. For this new edition, the author has expanded and rewritten several sections to include additional material and to improve the presentation.